Bake it to the limit, p.12
Bake It to the Limit, page 12
“Good enough,” Rhonda said. She rubbed the bridge of her nose with her other hand and looked at Karina again. “If Warden Miller isn't our man, then we're back to square one.”
“Maybe not,” Brad countered thoughtfully.
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” Brad said, looking out his office window, “maybe Hank Miller did wrong by buying himself a heart, maybe he didn’t. I ain't the man's judge. When a man is close to death, he can become very desperate. I don't like the fact that money can determine who gets a heart and who doesn't, but that's a conversation for another time.” He steadied his mind. “This Mr. Miller is a poster boy hired to please the public—a poster boy of a warden who had enough cash to buy himself a heart, which means—”
“He wouldn't need the money Joey Stally stole,” Rhonda finished.
“That's right,” Brad nodded. “Surgery isn’t cheap, but he also had to pay for accommodations, private nursing, and presumably bribes to move up on the international donor matching registry. He’s not worried about cash if he could foot the bill for all that and take a medical leave from his job.”
“I guess not.”
Brad puffed on his pipe again. “I'm also certain Hank Miller, being a sick man, wouldn't dive into murder.” He paused. “But the deputy he left in charge of the prison might.”
Rhonda stiffened. “Who are we talking about, Brad?”
“Deputy Warden Brian Young,” Brad said.
“Did your friend give you the low-down on this...deputy warden?” Rhonda asked hopefully, keeping Brian's name from Karina. She still wasn’t sure what the woman did and didn’t know.
“Sure did,” Brad confirmed. “Brian Young is a forty-two-year-old bum who defended lowlifes in court. He was disbarred for some shady dealings, but the state cut him a deal and offered him a job at the prison Vinnie and Frank DeVivo are rotting in.” Brad looked down at the notes from his source, wishing he were safe at home just then. He sighed. “So this Brian Young became the new prison administrative law liaison, or PAL liaison, whatever that is. If you ask me, it's just a made-up title created by some politician. The important thing to know is that this position is just one step below the warden. When the warden is away, the PAL Liaison becomes the deputy warden.”
Rhonda glanced at Rita in a way that told her sister to keep a very careful eye on Karina. Rita nodded, walked over to the kitchen table, and sat across from Karina. She gave the still-tearful woman a reassuring smile. “I'm all ears, Brad,” Rhonda said.
“Good, because I think I found our killer for us.”
“Hit me.”
“Brian Young hasn't been at the prison in over two weeks,” Brad began. “But before I put the cart before the horse, let me back up a bit and tell you that Brian Young began his slimy career in New Jersey as a private lawyer working for a mafia family. He relocated to the Atlanta area about five years ago—right before he was disbarred, actually—because the family he had been working for put a hit out on him.”
“Such is the life of sewer rats,” Rhonda stated.
Brad agreed. “Brian Young ran straight into the arms of Vinnie and Frank DeVivo, but not originally under the name Brian Young. He had a new identity as Lou Callone, a small-time wise guy everyone assumed had just bought and schemed his way through law school.”
“This is unbelievable, Brad. I can’t believe your guy dug all this up.”
“Hey, we go way back. We watch each other's backs,” Brad said. “Just like as cops, you and I always have each other’s backs, too.”
“You bet we do,” Rhonda smiled, feeling proud to have a new friend like Brad in her life. Maybe at first, she hadn’t wanted to trust Brad, but now she was head over heels for the man's honor and integrity.
Brad smiled, took another puff on his pipe, and continued. “Brian Young, a.k.a. Lou Callone, is a charming enough rat when he wants to be. The guy ended up dating the governor’s daughter. It was during that time he slowly started breaking away from Vinnie and Frank DeVivo's protection. I reckon he believed because he had changed his name, he was becoming Mr. Big Time and didn't need to bother with protection from lowlifes like Vinnie and Frank anymore. And to make matters worse, he betrayed Vinnie DeVivo by not defending the guy in court.” Brad put down his pipe. “But perhaps you and your sister know something about that, having worked in Atlanta?”
Rhonda didn’t reply, not wanting to go into it and tip off her sister about who they were talking about now.
“Never mind, tell me another time,” Brad said. “Anyway, Brian Young started working at the prison about the same time as Warden Miller. Not sure if those two are connected in any way, but I do know the governor himself hired Brian as the new PAL liaison. My guess is, he used his influence through the governor’s daughter to get such a cushy job. Normally, you can’t get a job like that if you’ve been disbarred in another state. I guess Brian must have dug up some stuff the governor didn't want made public.”
“And working in the prison system would give the guy a chance to make some really ugly contacts,” Rhonda added.
“Exactly,” Brad agreed. “But the one thing Brian Young wasn't expecting was to find Vinnie DeVivo at his prison. Vinnie DeVivo was supposed to be locked away in another prison farther south.”
“Yeah, I remember,” Rhonda said. “His lawyer managed to get him transferred because Vinnie decided to give the feds a few tidbits of information. The rat really dodged a bullet, and so did Frank. But those guys know how to play the system.”
“Maybe,” Brad replied, “but they ran right into the hands of a rat who can have them killed...and wants them dead.”
“A rat who knows all about Joey Stally, too.”
Brad nodded his head. “That's right,” he said, sipping on his stale police station coffee. “But there's more.”
“I wouldn't doubt it.”
Brad downed more coffee. “Brian Young was dating Vinnie and Frank's sister. Some Italian lady named Carrie, or Kari. Also goes by the name Karina.”
Rhonda flickered her eyes over to Karina, flashing her a quick, tense smile. “We know all about that person.”
“Good, because this DeVivo woman has a degree in chemistry,” Brad said. “According to my contact, this woman is a real smart cookie.”
“Indeed,” Rhonda said, panic forming a hard brick in her stomach. She shifted a little so her gun holster was more accessible.
“My gut is telling me Brian Young and this Karina DeVivo woman are working together.”
“I wouldn't doubt it at all,” Rhonda agreed, watching the woman at the kitchen table take a delicate spoonful of tomato soup.
“Valentine DeVivo couldn't have known who Brian Young was. Maybe the guy knew who Lou Callone was, but not his past as Brian Young,” Brad continued.
“Right,” Rhonda said, forgetting Karina for a second and thinking back to her encounter with Valentine DeVivo. “Valentine DeVivo wasn't certain who killed Joey Stally.”
“Karina began dating Brian Young—or rather Lou Callone—about a year before Vinnie DeVivo was sent off to prison for murder,” Brad said. “During that year, the guy was also dating the governor's daughter.”
“Real nice,” Rhonda said in disgust.
“Here's where it gets interesting,” Brad continued. “Karina DeVivo found out Brian Young was double-crossing her and left the country. She returned to Italy and settled back in her childhood home. But she began making numerous trips back to the states after finding out Brian Young was the second man in charge at the prison her brother Vinnie was lodged in. According to my contact, Karina and Brian reconciled.” Brad leaned back against his desk chair. He felt tired and ready for a good eight hours of shut-eye. “According to my contact, Karina despised her brothers and her old man, so maybe the woman found a way to get rid of all of them in one fell swoop? Who knows. But what I do know is that she began searching for Joey Stally.”
Rhonda glanced again at Karina. The woman was obviously very beautiful—but her beauty was apparently false, covering a deadly black widow. “I was informed Valentine DeVivo also began looking for Joey at some point.”
Brad read Rhonda's strained tone and leaned forward. “By who?”
“By a person who has really bad taste in...men's clothing,” Rhonda finished lamely, trying to laugh.
“Is Karina DeVivo with you right now?” he whispered.
“You bet,” Rhonda said, chuckling yet keeping her voice steady and professional. “Great information, Brad. We're really closing in on the true killer.”
“I'm on my way. Stay safe.”
“Coffee might be cold,” Rhonda replied casually. “Thanks for calling, Brad. See you tomorrow.”
“Be to you in twenty,” Brad said and hung up the phone. He grabbed his gun, checked the clip, and nodded his head. “Sure beats directing traffic.”
Rhonda hung the receiver back on the wall, turned, and focused on Karina. “That was the sheriff. He called to tell me about a man named...drum roll please...Brian Young.”
Before Karina could move an inch, Rita had her gun pointed at her. “Don't move a muscle,” she ordered.
Rhonda walked over to the kitchen table, grabbed a chair, spun it around, and sat in front of Karina. “Talk,” she said in a tone that told Karina she meant business.
“Right now,” Rita demanded with anger in her eyes.
Karina looked up at them with a look of helpless innocence.
“My sister and I want the truth, right this second,” Rita said.
“You can began by telling us why Joey Stally came to Clovedale Falls. The truth, sister. We know your connections to Brian Young. No more lies,” Rhonda said.
Realizing her cover had been blown, Karina decided to play ball. After all, her life was in danger and she did need help—and unfortunately, the cops were the only people she could trust, at least until she could put a better plan into place.
Bargaining for time, she took a deep breath. “You know, Joey was never trusting,” she said. After she spoke, Rita and Rhonda instantly realized the woman’s accent was not quite as thick as she had pretended, her grammar improving now that she had dropped her innocent disguise. “He trusted no one, except you two. You two were the only cops Joey trusted...and right now, you're the only cops I can trust. My life is in danger and I am very frightened.”
“I can see you're scared,” Rita said gruffly, “but unless you talk to us, we're going to toss you out to the dog trying to hunt you down.”
“That's right,” Rhonda agreed. “My sister and I are retired. We're not obligated to help you or even protect you.” She nodded at the back door. “You can talk to us, or hit the road.”
Karina’s eyes widened as she gazed at the back door. “No, please,” she begged. “I need your protection.”
“Because Brian Young is trying to kill you?” Rhonda asked.
“Yes,” Karina confessed. “Or Lou, as I first knew him.”
“Okay,” Rhonda nodded. “We'll stop there and go back to Joey. Start talking.”
“I knew Joey stole millions from my father. So did Brian. But what could we do? Vinnie was sent off to prison and Joey vanished into Witness Protection. The money was as good as gone.”
“So was the romance,” Rhonda said. “It seems Brian Young was trying to romance the governor's daughter at the same time he was dating you. Did you know that?”
“Yes,” Karina spat, her face flashing with rage. “Brian and I were supposed to get married. Our goal was to force Joey into a partnership and get him to tell us where he was hiding the stolen money. Brian and I were going to take the money and move to Australia, far away from everyone and everything we knew.” She gritted her teeth at the memory. “When I found out that Brian was dating another girl, no—not a girl, a vicious woman, one who had certain…political goals of her own, I left the country.”
“Why did you come back?” Rita asked.
“I was foolish,” Karina confessed. “When I returned to Sicily, I wrote Brian a letter—Brian? No, I wrote Lou Callone a letter. The man I had fallen in love with.” She shook her head. “The letter was meant to bring me closure. I wrote down my deepest emotions and ended the letter with a sad, but very angry goodbye.”
“Let me guess,” Rhonda said. “Mr. Romance wrote you back?”
“Yes,” Karina nodded. “My father...he didn't know Lou was Brian Young. As far as Valentine knew, Brian Young was dead.”
“A mafia family in New Jersey put a hit out on Brian Young,” Rhonda said, putting two and two together.
“Yes,” Karina nodded again. “I brought...Lou to Vinnie and Frank, and asked them to help him. Vinnie and Frank agreed. They bought Lou a fake birth certificate, social security card. and driver's license.”
“How nice of them,” Rita told Karina. She grit her teeth. The woman did not seem to express the tiniest shred of guilt about all this illegal activity.
“Vinnie and Frank blackmailed Lou to be their attorney in return for helping him with his new identity,” Karina explained. “But Lou was never one to be pushed around. He's the type of man who understands the game. It wasn't long before he started making friends with some very powerful people.”
“And after a while, he ditched Vinnie and Frank, right?” Rhonda asked.
“And me,” Karina said, anger tightening her face again. “Only...I was foolish enough to go back to him.”
“Why?” Rita asked.
“Lou is in charge of the prison Vinnie and Frank are at—”
“Second in charge,” Rhonda corrected. “Warden Hank Miller is first in command.”
“Warden Miller needed a new heart, which made Lou the head man,” Karina snapped before she could control her temper.
“Ah, I see,” Rhonda said. “So did your degree in chemistry finally pay off?”
Karina quickly lowered her eyes. She knew she was in serious trouble, and unless she wanted to live, she had no choice but to talk to the cops. “I injected a poison into Hank Miller's coffee that harmed his heart,” she confessed miserably.
Rita and Rhonda looked at each other. Now, they thought, the case was finally catching steam and moving down the tracks. “Keep talking,” Rhonda ordered.
Karina raised her eyes and glanced at the back door. Somewhere out in the night, Brian Young was lurking, waiting to kill her...and anyone else who dared to stand in his way.
Chapter Eight
“When Valentine tracked down Joey Stally, I saw an opportunity,” Karina said, slowly sipping on her coffee.
“By that time, Brian...uh, Lou...” Rhonda corrected, then quickly rolled her eyes. “For now, let's just call the rat Brian. Brian was threatening to kill your brothers, Vinnie and Frank DeVivo.”
“Yes,” Karina confirmed. “I was telling the truth before—my father didn't have the wealth he once had and couldn't afford the ransom Brian demanded in order to spare Vinnie and Frank. As I mentioned before, finding Joey was the only option.”
“And you were responsible for bringing that option to light, weren’t you?” Rita asked.
“Yes,” Karina admitted, taking another sip of coffee, clutching her delicate fingers around the mug to catch its fading warmth. “I ordered Brian to start threatening Vinnie and Frank in order to make Valentine pay a ransom. My plan was to...” Karina looked directly at Rhonda and Rita. “I wanted Vinnie and Frank dead. Call me a monster, but I despised my brothers for the way they treated Lou. And I despised my father for the way he treated everyone, for the people he hurt and killed. But most of all, I despised Lou for breaking my heart. They all had to die.”
“I bet,” Rhonda said, reading the glittering serenity in Karina’s eyes.
“I had Valentine where I wanted him,” Karina said angrily. “I was allowing his anger to build like a storm before I confessed to him who Brian Young truly was. I was going to wait until Brian killed Vinnie and Frank, and then reveal the truth.” She drew in a deep breath. “I knew once Vinnie and Frank were dead, my father would risk returning back to the states and kill Brian with his own hands.”
“Trapping Valentine DeVivo for murder, which would lock him in prison for life,” Rita pointed out.
“A prison he would die in,” Karina spat. “My father would rather be tortured than wind up in prison. His freedom is—or was—very precious to him.”
Rhonda leaned forward in her chair. “Let's focus back on Joey.”
“Joey presented the perfect chance for me to lure Brian away from the prison,” Karina explained. “Valentine surely couldn't walk into a heavily guarded prison and kill him. No, I needed a plan, and Joey was the perfect door to open.” Karina looked down at her mostly empty coffee mug and continued. “I went to Joey one night,” she said in a low voice. “Joey was always a little in love with me, at least from a distance. I knew I could use that. I warned him that my father was going to kill him, and then I told him who Brian Young truly was. I begged Joey to tell me where he had hidden the stolen money, saying I wanted to run away with him.” Karina raised her eyes as if she was a wolf who had lost its prey: hungry, determined, out for blood. “Joey recorded every word I spoke and threatened to tell Valentine I was betraying him...unless I married him.”
“Not the brightest fella,” Rhonda said, rolling her eyes.
“Tell me about it,” Rita agreed in disgust.
“I panicked,” Karina confessed. “Joey had betrayed me—”
“What you mean is Joey outsmarted you,” Rita corrected. “You thought you were being a very smart cookie, but fell victim to a paranoid lowlife.” She resisted pointing out the illegality in Karina’s scheme, though the whole matter was exasperating. “Are we supposed to feel sorry for you?”
Karina glared at Rhonda. “Fine. Hate me.” She shook with anger, but stayed in her chair, though she looked ready to jump up, grab Rhonda by her hair, and sling her across the kitchen. Instead, she said, “I ran to Brian and begged him to help me—not telling him the complete truth, of course. I made Brian believe Joey was obsessed with me and threatening to kill me unless I agreed to marry him.”
